Asus PB287Q

An affordable, powerful 4K monitor

Our Verdict

This machine isn't perfect, but it produces perfect images, especially if you're nowhere near sunlight. Photographers, designers and videographers will love this unit.

For

Stunning images

Price

Versatility

Against

Navigation

Blindspots

Boring design

Unless you’re a design professional, creative artist, videographer or gaming fanatic, you probably don’t need a 4K computer monitor. The same can be said for most luxury items: I’m not a professional fisherman, but I’d love to own a boat.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much 4K content available for the average person to consume, so even those of you with money to blow might find yourselves wishing you’d held out a little longer for the 4K movement to accelerate.

For an excellent in-depth explanation of what 4K is and whether it’s worth exploring, check out this primer. For those of you who are sure a 4K monitor is exactly what you need for personal or professional tasks, the Asus PB287Q is a safe bet at a reasonable price ($649, £599, AU$799).

Specs and picture quality

The Asus PB287Q sports a 3840 x 2160 UHD resolution that packs 157 pixels into every one of the monitor’s 28-inches. The 10-bit color screen delivers crisp images that really bring out the depth in photos. With standard 1080p monitors, colors fade toward the corners of your images, specifically darker colors that aren’t directly in focus. When looking at old wedding photos on the PB287Q, you’ll clearly be able to see grandma dancing in the background.

Gamers will love the monitor’s 1ms GTG response time and 60Hz refresh rate. You’ll never have to worry about your FIFA 15 image sputtering as Ronaldo leans into his hesitation during a penalty kick. For people like my wife, who enjoy seeing Ronaldo as clearly as possible (as often as possible), the monitor’s 16:9 aspect ratio delivers more than 8 million pixels and more than one billion colors. Eight million pixels and one billion colors is pretty standard for 4K, but double what you’ll get with typical full HD displays.

Contrast ratio

Contrast ratio is a huge plus for this unit. The higher the contrast ratio, the more life-like your images will look. You’ll want to reach out and touch the images on your Asus PB287Q.

It features a 100,000,000:1 measurement, which is mind-bogglingly fantastic when stacked up against even the most awesome standard 1920 X 1080 units like the BenQ XL2720Z. It won’t impress you in comparison to LG’s $10,000 Ultra HD 4K OLED TV model 65EC9700, which has no backlighting and can provide infinite contrast. But you’re not reading this because you’re interested in top-of-the-line televisions. You’re interested in the best 4K monitors available. At 100,000,000:1, the Asus PB287Q is among the best monitors on the market in terms of contrast ratio.